Born in Flames
by Aurelia North
Summary: For the first time since my brother disappeared I felt something. I felt hope. There was a chance we were going to find him. Them. But would he accept me if he truely knew who I was and what I've done. My entire life I was raised to strong at the feat of weakness and always fight for what I believe it because I was like my brother and our father Born in Flames. I suck at summaries


Hi everyone, so came up with this great idea for a story after watching the new episodes of Fairy Tail.

This story is set right after the Tenrou Island arc. Hope you enjoy it. Pleace tell me what you think by reviewing :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

* * *

Chapter 1

I used to love the ocean. It had been my sanctuary - a place of comfort and serenity. Somewhere I was free from my past and at peace with who I had become as result of the things I've done. Horrible things.

But for the past seven years, however, the ocean had been nothing but a cruel reminder of the loss I'd suffered. Its sight was sickening and I hardly ever accepted a job which required me to cross over the merciless waters of the sea. Not out of fear but rather due to the fact that I couldn't stomach the thought of _my brother_ buried somewhere beneath the sandy mass of the ocean's floor.

"Ayla?"

I should have known Romeo would've come looking for me. For a thirteen-year-old boy the kid sure had some exceptional intuition skills - that, or maybe I was simply becoming more predictable.

"Romeo, what are you doing here?" I croaked and hastily swept away the tears that had somehow escaped and which were now running along my cheeks. He couldn't see me cry. No. I _wouldn't_ let him seen me cry. The guild needed me to be strong especially during these challenging times. It is after all what was expected of a guildmaster; to show strength and courage at the feat of weakness.

"Are you -"

"I'm fine, Romeo." I didn't need him comforting me. "I'm fine."

"Ayla. Don't." He downheartedly sighed as he came to sit beside me on the cliff's end which overlooked the ocean. I had originally come here in hope of finding peace. Maybe Strength. Something - but I was just once again reminded of my shortcomings and how the questions I harboured within will always remain unanswered.

"You don't always have to be strong. I know all of this is very sudden but the guild has faith in you. I have faith in you. We look to you for guidance and sometimes that guidance is found in the simply act of mourning together." Romeo continued as he gazed at the horizon where the perfect blue sky met the glistering waters of the ocean.

He was right. I was being selfish by isolating myself from my guild - _my family_. They needed me. Romeo needed me. His father passed away nothing shy of a few days ago and here he was comforting me. I needed to pull myself together and do what I solemnly sworn Master Macao I would. Lead Fairy Tail.

"When did you get so smart?" I smiled and ruffled his spiky dark hair. It still amazed me how much he had grown in the past seven years - physically and mentally. When I first met Romeo, he was eight going on nine; a little boy with these big dreams of becoming a mage just like his father.

"Hey, stop that!" The youth swatted my hand away and restyled his hair. I couldn't help but laugh at his childish antics and for some reason it gave me hope. Hope that the kind little boy I had come to love like a brother was still there beneath his sullen en cynical exterior.

"Sorry." I chuckled and returned to gaze out over the open sea. I could feel Romeo staring at me as if he was trying to figure out what I was thinking. He was contemplating on whether or not to ask me something and I silently hoped he would just drop it.

I knew what his question was, it was right there in his silence, but I wasn't sure I would be able give him an honest answer. Maybe I just didn't want to hear myself actually admit it out loud. That _they_ weren't coming back. That _he_ was in fact dead.

The young mage next to me redirected his attention to the glistering sea and for a moment or so we sat in comfortable silence. There was no need for words because we both carried the same heaviness in our hearts; something only someone who had lost a loved one could understand.

"Do you think they'll ever come back? That they are still alive out there somewhere?" And there it was. The question I so desperately hoped he would never ask me the answer to.

He was still staring ahead of him which I realized was due to the fact that he couldn't bring himself to look me in the eyes. Romeo was afraid of what I was going to say and I completely understood where he was coming from for I was too.

"Some days it feels like there is no chance that they could still be alive. After all it has been seven years -" I started honesty, Romeo's features betraying no emotions whatsoever. "- but then I remember what my father taught me growing up. He always went on about how the single most powerful force was that of hope and that as long as hope's alive among us anything is possible."

"Your dad sounded like a really smart guy." He gravely replied and I could tell that he was thinking about what I had just shared with him.

My father was an honourable man, not to mention strong and steadfast in his beliefs. He was the general of the Veronican army back when I was a kid and the reason I became a fire mage. Just like him and his father before him.

"He was an extraordinary man." I rose from where I sat and held my hand out to Romeo. I was the new appointed guildmaster of Fairy Tail, damnit, and sitting here dwelling on things I cannot change will accomplish nothing but reopen old wounds. My father raised me better than this. It was time I started acting like a leader, like those before me. "Just as yours was."

* * *

_One month later…_

Weeks passed by and I could slowly start seeing a change among the members of the guild. Droy was eating healthily and training alongside Jet again. Wakaba was back to his old self and hitting on Laki. I even caught Romeo smiling once or twice when we would reminisce about the trouble our missing comrades had caused in the past. Things were looking up.

"Master?" Kinana called from across my office where I had been locked up for the past two and a half hours filling out paperwork. Fairy Tail was causing trouble again. Just like old times.

"Yes, Kinana? What is it?" I smiled and rose from where I sat behind my desk. I seriously needed to take a break - maybe even have some of Kinana's newly brewed ale.

I wasn't much of a partygoer or drinker, unlike the rest of the guild. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy a good party but because I had this awful habit of becoming overly emotional when drunk - the fact that I couldn't hold my liquor not helping either. But a drink every now and then, just to take the edge off things, I could do.

"Ichiya and the Trimens just arrived and are requesting you presence, Master Ayla." I was still adjusting to the fact that people were calling me master instead of by my name. It felt foreign and simply didn't sound right.

"Please tell them that I will be down shortly. Thank you, Kinana." I stated to which Kinana respectfully bowed her head and closed the door as she left.

Something was going on. Blue Pegasus' strongest team wouldn't travel this far if it wasn't for something of utmost importance. Normally if Ichiya wanted to get a message across, he'd have Hibiki communicate it via his telepathy.

After straightening out the wrinkles of the long white skirt I wore and readjusting the bandeau top which left my toned stomach exposed, I headed for the door. I needed to get down there and deal with whatever it was they had come all this way to tell me.

Descending down the stairs, I could feel the need to vomit grow as I took in the deathly pale faces of my comrades. Everyone seemed shocked beyond comparison - all but except the Trimens whom were seated by the bar, smiling as if they had just won the Grand Magic Games.

"Ah, if it isn't the beautiful Master Ayla. How have you been my dear?" Ichiya spoke up first breaking the eerie silence which consumed the usually merry guild.

"It's good to see you Lady Ayla."

"Is it just me or do you just become more beautiful by the day?"

I scowled out of annoyance after hearing that weak attempt at flattery. Ren Akatsuki I couldn't stand. He's futile attempt at seducing basically every living female in the whole of Earthland while engaged to another woman, left me nearly always disgusted.

"Ren, how is Sherry?" I snapped. A sense of triumph washing over me as his features became that of fear. As sweet and affectionate as Sherry Blendy was, she wasn't someone you wanted to upset. The girl could be real scary when she wanted to.

"Please excuse my friend, my lady. It seems he had forgotten his manners back home." The youngest of the Trimens apologized.

Eve Tearm I liked. No. Eve, I absolutely adored. Even though he was two years my senior, I often treated him like I would a little brother. He was polite and that of a true gentleman but that wasn't to say that beneath all that sweetness he wasn't a womanizer like his comrades.

"It's good to see you again, Ayla." Hibiki finally greeted as our eyes met.

Hibiki Lates and I had dated once a few years back right after I joined Fairy Tail. It wasn't as serious or exclusive like _Sorcerer's Weekly _had made it out to be nor was it just some random fling. I might not have been in love with him but I did enjoy his company.

"How's Jenny?" I asked awkwardly as I came to stand before the Trimens.

In the end, however, Hibiki and I didn't work out. With him being in Blue Pegasus and myself in Fairy Tail, things simply just faded. Last I heard he was dating centrefold model, Jenny Realight which I was genuinely happy about seeing as he had finally found someone deserving of his affection. Someone who could cherish what he had to offer.

"She's good." He grinned nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm glad to hear it." I offered him a smile before redirecting my attention to Ichiya - my features returning to that of seriousness. "Ichiya, so what brings you all the way out here? Surely you weren't just passing by and looking to pop in?"

"Business first like always. I see you haven't changed much, my darling Ayla." The leader of the Trimens chuckled and I inwardly cursed the stocky little man for not taking me seriously.

"That frown doesn't suit someone of you beauty, my dear." Ichiya continued as he took in my grim expression. The man really knew how to piss me off.

"Look, you moron, I don't have time for these stupid little games of yours, so why don't you just say what it is you need to and fuck off!" I growled as my anger flared up.

"Touchy, aren't we?" He pouted and I mentally berated myself for acting like a child. Sweet Mavis, I was twenty-one for crying out loud and I stilled allowed some old geezer to get to me. Looks like I had a lot more growing up to do than I originally thought.

"Just get on with it." I sighed and stood there with my hands firmly planted on my hips.

"Alright. Alright." Ichiya began and just like that his features became serious. "We belief Tenrou Island still exists."

If Hibiki's study on Fiore's Ethernano levels were correct and what Ichiya said was to be true, then that meant_ they_ were still alive and out there. I had no idea how it was possible but if it was in fact so; I would do whatever it took to get them back.

I was going to find them. I was going to find_ him_. Even if it took me another seven years to do so because for the first since I've learned of his disappearance, I had hope.

"The guild is waiting on your instructions, I heard my friend, Bisca say from where she stood in the doorway of my office, holding her daughter.

"Lala!" Asuka cried happily and reached out to me as I made my way over to them. She was only two and still in the process of learning how to speak.

"Hello there, baby girl!" I cooed and kissed her forehead. "How's my little cowgirl doing?"

The little girl giggled and Bisca laughed. "I swear, she might love you more than she does her own momma."

"Not a chance, Bis. That kid absolutely adores you and Al." I couldn't help but smile. This was what family was all about.

Bisca followed me down the stairs to the guildhall where all the members were gathered impatiently awaiting on my orders. After Hibiki and the rest of the Trimens left, I had gone back to my office to plan the most proactive approach in rescuing our lost comrades.

"Max, Warren, Droy, Jet, Bisca and Al-" I firmly spoke up as I stood before my guild. "You are to follow the directions as provided by Hibiki and find them. The rest of us will remain here, there is no point whatsoever in all of us going and leaving the guildhall defenceless."

I could see the selected few rising from their seats, eager to start off their search. Also, I knew that there were others, like Romeo, who wanted to accompany them on their search but I couldn't risk leaving the guild defenceless especially seeing as Twilight Ogre could be stopping by any day now to collect their monthly payment. They haven't come by once since Macao died but I had a feeling that would all change very soon.

"There's ship waiting for you guys in the harbour. Good luck." I concluded and turned to head back up to my office.

I had no idea what I was going to say to _him_ and thought of coming out with truth made me nervous. What if he didn't believe me? Or worse rejected me? No. I couldn't think like that. He was my brother after all. He would eventually remember me - he just had to.

After shutting the door to my office, I moved over to desk sitting in the middle of the room and opened its top drawer. It was buried beneath the heaps of paperwork as to shield it from prying eyes. It was a crumbled up photograph of my family taken seventeen years ago.

My father, my mother, my brother and I. We were together back then and happy. It was a month before the Fire Festival which Veronica - my motherland - held every decade in the honour of the fire dragon, Igneel. I had been so excited to be a part of it back then.

There came a knock from the door and I hastily hide the photograph back beneath the papers. I wasn't ready to let the truth about my identity be known just yet - I needed more time as to decide whether or not it was in fact worth it

* * *

Thank you for reading :)

P.S so how do you think this Ayla is and what is she hiding?

Stay tune and you definitely find out in the chapter which I will be posting very soon ;)

- Aurelia


End file.
